The Influence of Obesity on Acute Pancreatitis Hospitalizations Does Body Mass Index Matter?

Objective: To identify the influence of body mass index (BMI) on Acute Pancreatitis (AP) hospitalizations in the United States (US). Methods: The National Inpatient Sample was utilized to identify normal weight, overweight and obese AP hospitalizations in the US from 2016-2019 based on BMI. Hospitalization characteristics and outcomes were compared. Results: Between 2016-2019, there were 314,215 (74.7%) obese, 27,005 (6.4%) overweight and 79,380 (18.9%) normal weight AP hospitalizations. Obese AP hospitalizations were younger (51.5 vs 56.5 years, p < 0.0001) compared to the normal weight cohort. However, normal weight AP hospitalizations had a higher proportion of Blacks and Asians compared to the obese subgroup. We also noted a higher all-cause inpatient mortality for normal weight AP hospitalizations (3.4% vs 2.8% vs 1.8%, p < 0.0001) compared to the overweight and obese cohorts, respectively. Furthermore, normal weight AP hospitalizations had a higher proportion of patients with pancreatic pseudocyst formation and pancreatic necrosis compared to the overweight and obese cohorts. The mean length of stay (5.8 vs 8.2 days, p < 0.0001) and mean total healthcare costs ($66,742 vs $82,319, p < 0.0001) were lower for obese compared to normal weight AP hospitalizations. Conclusions: Normal weight AP hospitalizations had higher inpatient mortality and complications compared to obese hospitalizations.